Blockchain and crypto in general are too often associated with speculative financial markets and little more.
But what many in the general public still haven’t understood is that the technology itself is revolutionary, and the implications for how we share blocks of data while maintaining data integrity and trustworthiness are world-changing.
In fact, there’s a huge, real-life problem right now involving data where blockchain could be on the verge of having a significant impact.
Medical science is on the cusp of a revolution in new and better treatments as medical AIs, machine learning, and other data-powered tools go online.
These tools have an incredible potential to save lives by contributing to finding cures for diseases, earlier and more accurate diagnoses, identifying new drugs and treatments, and much more.
The issue for researchers, however, is getting ethical access to medical data in the first place, and ensuring the data is high-quality and without bias.
Up until now, medical data has been locked away and fragmented in healthcare facilities, with no easy or even legal way for the data to be shared.
Even more problematic is the lack of representation in most available medical data sets, which introduces bias into the results of the algorithms and programs using them.
A solution to these problems would help power medical science to jump light-years ahead and could offer hope and an end to suffering for millions – or even billions – worldwide.
An EU-funded startup has just launched a system that they believe presents a solution to these pressing issues, and they’re using a unique application of blockchain technology to accomplish it.
Data Lake has created a global medical data donation program where – like giving blood – people can donate their medical data to science. Their program is based on user consent and privacy and uses blockchain technology to verify donor consent to ensure their data is only used with permission.
By using blockchain, they remove the need for trust and can prove donor status with absolute certainty by showing it on a public distributed ledger.
They will work with national non-profits to collect donor consent, the first of which has already been established in Poland under the name Fundacja Podaruj Dane (or “Donate Your Data Foundation” in English).
These foundations will become the legal controllers of donated data and will help educate the public on the importance of data donation. The pilot program with Podaruj Dane and one of Poland’s top medical entities will begin later this year.
Understanding the important implications of such a system succeeding, Data Lake has gone one step further and has created a unique incentivization ecosystem that rewards data donors (“Data Heroes”), hospitals and clinics, and other stakeholders for participating in citizen science.
Through the use of their utility token $LAKE, they are able to incentivize global participation in medical data donation via a rewards system, which will provide globally-redeemable discounts on healthcare and wellness products and services to holders of the token.
Co-founder of Data Lake and medical doctor Wojciech Sierocki says:
“Too often, blockchain and tokens have been associated with financial speculation and little else. But at Data Lake, we recognize the potential for blockchain to help power a revolution in medical research. And this isn’t just choosing Web3 because it’s a buzz term right now either when it comes to removing the need for trust from a system or cross-border incentivization. For example, there’s nothing like DLT—it truly is a technology that stands apart. “Nothing against monkey artwork and memecoins, but I believe the blockchain is destined for far more and we’re doing our part in making that happen.”
One of the most exciting things about Data Lake is that they are currently proving the blockchain has a purpose and can solve real-world issues such as access to medical data.
By using blockchain to power a global medical data donation system, they are decentralizing contributions to medical science while respecting the principles of individual privacy and data ownership.
Decentralization, individual rights, and even data ownership all speak to the fundamental values upon which blockchain itself was founded. While Data Lake certainly isn’t the only Web3 company trying to solve a real-world problem, the one they’ve chosen is definitely one of the most ambitious.
If successful in building momentum for global medical data donation, the implications for medical science are enormous.
About Data Lake
Data Lake is building a global medical data donation system based on blockchain technology and powered by the $LAKE token.
They’re empowering people to give consent to the usage of their medical data in a safe, easy and private way while providing large data sets that revolutionize scientific research and medical studies.
About Fundacja Podaruj Dane
Fundacja Podaruj Dane is a Polish non-profit organization, dedicated to facilitating the donation of medical data for scientific research by Polish donors.
They are pioneers for medical data donation in Europe and worldwide, having created the first medical data donation manifesto which has been signed by over twenty international patient, doctor, and hospital organizations.
Follow them on social media:
Data Lake Website | Data Lake Twitter | Data Lake Telegram | Data Lake Medium | Data Lake LinkedIn
Podaruj Dane Website | Podaruj Dane Twitter
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